Cotton condenser



Jan. 1, 1929. 1,697,641

W. L. HANCOCK El'AL COTTON CONDENSER 7 Filed April 19., 1928 2 sheetssheet 1 B L /A/VA/70/?S Mammal/Kauai; J l/UA IZ B), 7 y 114 wadmwr'faq-I flrroR/ym.

Jan; 1, 1929. 1,697,647

w. L. HANCOCK ETAL COTTON CONDENSER Filed April 19, 1928 sheets-sheet 2M ZZz amL/ a izcoc/i I Join fi'Zeu/eZZ g hautzgrzdmafi wa Patented Jan.1, 1929.

ICE-if WILLIAM L. HANcocK AND JOHN BLnwETT, or DALLAS, TEXAS, ssrenonsTo THE MURRAY COMPANY, or DALLAs, TEXAS, A CORPORATION or TEXAS.

COTTON CONDENSER.

Application filed April- 19, 1928. Serial No. 271,177.

Our invention is an improved cotton condenser, of all metalconstruction, the elements of which are so designed and combined thatthe utmost economy of assembly andreplacementand repair, isaccomplished, while the machine as a whole is more eflicient in operation than prior machines for the same general purpose. A

In the drawings I Figure 1 is a perspective View of our machine takenfrom the rear or cotton entry side;

Figure 2 is a Figure .1; 1 w

' F "gure 3 is a front elevation, broken away in parts to show interiormechanism;

Figure 4 is a detail, in section, of part of a dofiing roller;

cross section on line 22 of of the 'dofier roller mounting; Figure 6 isa detall on an enlarged scale,

1 of the doffer roll shaft. openings in the inner heads; V

Figure 7 is a detail, of the dotfer gears. As is commonly known, thelint cotton, taken by the gin saws from the seedcotton .roll, in theroll boX of the gin, is removed from the saws either by an air blast orby rapidly rotating brushes, in either case a current of air beingcreated which is utilized to carry the lint cotton from thesaws,'through a lint pipe, to the cotton condenser, in which the lint isscreened from the air current, and formed into a bat, which passes fromthe condenser down a lint slide to a baling press. There are severalforms of screens employed in various condensers,and the type ofcondenser to which ourimprovements are particularly applicable is thatin which a rotating screen drum is employed, enclosed-in a suitablecasing. I V

f In the drawings, illustrating our improved condenser, the casing,within which the screen drum is mounted. is divided into three com-fdrum is, as usual, made up of several spi ders, 31, mounted upon a shaft32, and covered with wire mesh, 3,'the shaft 32 being carried inbearings, 33, in the'end walls of I outer air.

the uptakes 22.. 'into the'hopper andv sofind the casin so that it maybe rotated by a sprocket gear 35'mounted upon one projectneath the threechambers, 1 and 2 is a hopper r or trough 21, into which dirt or trashfromthe cotton lint,if any, may fall and-be evac-' V uated fromthe-machine; Above each cham- Figure 5 is a detail on an enlarged scale,

her 2 is an air uptake 22, extending to the It is obvious that for thebestresults, the chambers 1 and 2, should be isolated from each other asthoroughly as possible, except through the screen drum and the apertures12. It is tobe noted that the air current relied upon to; convey thelint from the gins to the condenser is not a suction current, butismerely produced by the air' blast of the gins. As it iscustomary toraise the condenser on suitable,standardsor legs, in order that it maybe in a position to deliver the lint into the baling chamber ofa press,the lint pipe from the gins is slanted upward to connect. with the inlet131and the course of the air current,'is for best results, changed aslittle as may be. The air current entering the inlet 13, maypass'through the screen 3 of the the lint and passes through the screen3 and as the air current. i's not rapid, some of this matter may be tooheavy to pass out through This matter will gravitate its way outofthe-machine.

In order to keep the air current intact, sealing strips or flashings areprovided, to contact with the moving screen drum. One of theseis shownin Figure 2, lying across the i Y of rotation of the drum surface, toprevent the I air current from passing at this po nt. This flexiblestrip is preferably secured to a board 71, which may be fastened inplace by a bolt at either end, which bolt is readily reached by theattendant, in case of need, by entering the end chambers 2 andunfastening a single bolt at each end of the board.

The most difficult gap to seal is that be-. tween the peripheral ends ofthe screen drum and the adjacent partitions, separating chamber'l fromchambers 2. The ends of the screen drum are open and opposed to thecircular openings 12 in the partitions 11, the opening being somewhatlarger than the diameter of the screen drum and the edges of the openingare hentinwardly toward the drum (see Figure Around the face of thescreen drum, at each end a smooth metallic band 34 is mounted and aroundthe openings' 12 at intervals are set a series of bolts, projecting onthe outer-side of the partitions 11. These bolts, 121, are formed withscrew threaded shanks and with thin flat heads. The purpose of thepeculiarly thin shape of the bolt heads is to enable the severalbolt-heads, whenthe bolts have been placed in the apertures inpartitions 11, to be spot welded to the'partition 11 and thus the boltsbecome an integral element with the partition, free from loosening ormaladjustment, the heads hardly projecting fro-m the inner surface ofthe partition. The flashings or gaskets 122 are preferablysegments of a'circle, divided, for example, into arcs of requiring eight strips ofmaterial, suitably shaped, to complete the sealing at each end, andthese segmental gaskets are pierced to permit them to pass upon theoutwardly projecting bolts 121. The gaskets after being mounted uponthebolts 121v and upon the outerside of partitions 11 are clamped in placeby a clamp member 123 and the free edge of the gaskets 122 is flexedinward to contact with a band 3e. It will be noted thatthe flexing ofthe gasket 122 involves no contact with any sharp angular edge, but onthe contrary the inwardly bent edge of the opening 12 inpartitions .11sustains the gasket however it may be flexed, without presenting anyangular surface. Furthermore, when it becomes necessary to replace agasket strip, which occurs when the constant flexing, which occurs inuse, has caused the fabric to crack, the strip, being clamped totheontside of the" partiton 11 is easily accessible and easilyremovable. The operator may enter chamber 2 and by unscrewing the nutson bolts 121 may remove a clamping segment 123and the defective gasketsegment, which may be instantly replaced by a new segment, accuratelycut and shaped to fit, and the clamping segment replaced, the bolts121bei'ng integral with thepartition, receiving the segment 123.

It will now be apparent that the cotton laden air current, enteringthrough inlet 13 is confined at the topby the wall 131 and at the bottomby the flashing or gasket 7 and at the sides by the flashings or gaskets122, so that the air must pass through the screen 3 leaving the lint onthe screen, which,

operates with the doifer 5 to compress the bat. This roller 53 iscarried at each end in a yoke bearing 531 pivoted on the shaft 51 ofdoii'er 5, so that the roller 53 may swing about shaft 51 to and fro thedrum, and at the same time the roller 53 can move to and fro the doffer'5, due to the fact that the swinging yoke carries the bearing of rollerin a slot along which it may move. A spring 532'urges the roller 53toward the doifer 5 and a spring 533 urges the slotted bearing 531toward the drun1.-The result is that roller 53 in its relation to doffer5 has a substantially universal capacity of movement, to and fro thedo-tferroller and to and fro the screen drum. In order that thiscapacity may be made effective, the spur gears 53 1, 535 by whichrollers'5 and 53 are connected are designed with extra long teeth sothat a considerable separation of the cooperating rollers may beeffected without disengagement of their respective driving gears and thewalls 11 are also provided with an arcuate slot. 112 so that 53 mayswing about theshaft 51 of the doii'er roll 5.

The dofi'er roller shaft 51 is mounted in bearings 111 on walls 11 andhas in addition a bearing 24 at each end in the outer walls of thecasing. At one end shaft 51 carries I a driving gear 25 meshing with agear 26 on 32 of drum 3. The shaftable plug 512 being provided inithesurface walls of roller 5 so that the shaft may be freed at any time andwithdrawn without removing the roller itself. This is ause'ful featureinasmuch as it enables the driving.

leaner? equipment, gearing and countershaft to be changed from right toleft hand to suit the arrangement of the gin plant, without removing therollers from the condenser-a slow and laborious operation.

l/Ve claim 'f 1. In a cotton condenser, a casing divided into a centraldrum chamber and end chambers by apertured partitions; a screen drumwithin the central drum chamber, its hollow interior opposed at each endto the partition apertures; smooth metallic bands around the peripheryof the screen drum'at each end; flexible, arcuate flashings securedupon'the out-erside of the partitions and flexed through the partitionapertures to engage the metallic I band; an air and lint'inlet into thecentral chamber; a pair of dofli'er rolls to remove the bat from thesurface of the drum, one roller f provided with flexible wipers, theother swinging about the wiper roller shaft to and fro the drum andmovable also to and fro April, 1928.

the Wiper roller; an air outlet from each end I interior opposed ateachend tothe partition apertures p a multiplicity of outwardly proectingbolts about the partition apertures; flexible arcuateflashings mountedupon the tures to engage the peripheral end surfaces of the drum;segmental clampingmembers to pass upon the bolts and clamp the flashingto the outer'surtace of the partitions; a dofler roll to remove the batfrom the surface of the drum an air outlet from each endcham-' bel. 7' pI" Signed at Dallas, Texas, this 13th day of JOHN BLEWETT. WM. 1HANCOCK.

bolts and flexed'through the partition aper-

